COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY RECRUITMENT: EFFECTS OF JOB MOBILITY,RECRUITER SIMILARITY-DISSIMILARITY,AND APPLICANT GENDER

The study reported in this article was a factorial experiment that addressed the usefulness of the Rynes and Barber (1990) applicant attraction model and the Byrne (1971) similarity-attraction hypothesis as theoretical frameworks for conducting empirical research about community college faculty recruitment. Study participants (N = 136) were business professionals completing the masters of business administration degree who position announcements of community college business faculty vacancies. The independent variables were job mobility (relocation required vs. relocation not required), recruiter background (business vs. education), and applicant gender. The dependent variable was a composite rating for applicant reaction to a job described in a faculty position announcement. Both male and female applicants rated jobs most favorably when the job did not require relocation F(1,128) = 5.16, p.05 and the recruiter conveying the job message had a professional background similar to that of the applicant F(1,128) = 11.97, p.001. These findings have implications for theory, educational recruitment practice, and future research.     

Effects of a Computer-Based Early Reading Program on the Early Reading and Oral Language Skills of At-Risk Preschool Children

This study examined the effects of a computer-based early reading program (Headsprout Early Reading) on the oral language and early reading skills of at-risk preschool children. In a pretest–posttest control group design, 62 children were randomly assigned to receive supplemental instruction with Headsprout Early Reading (experimental group) or Millie's Math House (control group) for 30 min each school day for 8 weeks. Children using Headsprout Early Reading made greater gains in early reading skills as measured by the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3), F(1, 59) = 39.35, p < 0.01, and in oral language skills as measured by the Test of Language Development-Primary (TOLD-P:3), F(1, 59) = 37.03, p < 0.01. Effect sizes were large for the gains in both measures (TERA-3, η² = 0.24; TOLD-P:3, η² = 0.17). Teachers' responses to an open-ended interview indicated that the program was perceived as a desirable instructional aid. Educational considerations for preventing future reading difficulties and issues about implementation integrity are discussed.     

The Impact of an Ongoing Professional Development Program on Prekindergarten Teachers' Mathematics Practices

Mathematics is a natural part of daily life for young children as they explore and investigate the world around them. To build on these experiences, and to begin establishing a mathematical foundation, early childhood educators must not only be knowledgeable about mathematical concepts, they must also be aware of the most developmentally appropriate ways in which to teach these concepts to young children. After participation in an ongoing professional development program, specifically targeting teachers of prekindergarten children in public school, Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD), Head Start, and child care settings, teachers reported positive changes in math practices. Specifically, teachers reported a stronger alignment to national mathematics standards and increased awareness pertaining to developmentally appropriate mathematics practices as they apply to early childhood classrooms. Teachers reported a shift towards more hands-on activities and a shift away from the use of worksheets in their prekindergarten classrooms. Implications from this study suggest that ongoing professional development that is designed to meet the specific needs of early childhood educators can have a positive impact on reported mathematics content knowledge and instructional practices.     

Action Research as a Format for Vocational Higher Education

This paper explores the concept of good teaching and discusses lecturers’ beliefs about what constitutes good teaching in higher education. The paper draws on documentary material in the form of philosophy of teaching statements written by lecturers in higher education. Thematic analysis is used to examine the philosophy statements and the analysis of the data reveals that for academic staff, the moral stances of honesty, respect, responsibility, care and compassion are fundamental to good teaching. The results do not support a narrow view of teaching focused on strategies and technical knowledge, but shows evidence of academics engaging strongly with the values base of their work as teachers. The voices of the academic staff as captured in their philosophy statements are cognisant of the moral purpose of teaching and speak powerfully to a practice that is responsible and effective. Both dispositions are important in terms of teaching and the challenge is to integrate the two concepts in professional development.     

Constitution

An ecological theory of health communication is offered that addresses how communications about health interdependently work together to influence health and/or health‐related behaviors. To explain how a multitude of variables work together in a synergistic manner, the present work borrows heavily from chaos theory. The use of chaos theory concepts represents a significant paradigm shift from previous, more reductionist, health communication perspectives. The present work (a) provides a definition of health communication, (b) offers an overall health communication framework, (c) introduces relevant chaos theory concepts into the health communication literature, and (d) illustrates how chaos theory concepts can be applied to the field of health communication in order to explain health‐related behavior. Specific operationalization procedures are suggested to test the theoretical ideas outlined.     

Notices

Kinanthropometry III. Proceedings of the VIII Commonwealth and International Conference on Sport, Physical Education, Dance, Recreation and Health. T. Reilly, J. Watkins and J. Borms (eds), E. &; F.N. Spon, London, 1986, xii + 312 pp, £25 (hb), ISBN 0 419 13970 2

Sensible fitness. J.H. Wilmore, Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, USA, 1986, xii + 300 pp, $11.95, ISBN 0 88011 270 0

Running without fear. K.H. Cooper, Bantam Books, London, 1985, 256 pp, £3.95, ISBN 0 553 17356 1

Athletic training and sports medicine. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Churchill Livingstone, Chicago, USA, 1986. viii + 602 pp, £40, ISBN 0 89203 002 X

Athletics and the heart. R. Rost, Year Book Medical Publishers Inc., Chicago, 1987, vii+159 pp, £21.50 (pb), ISBN 0 8151 7397 0

Psychology and sociology of sport: current selected research, Volume 1. L.V. Velden and J.M. Humprey (eds), AMS Press, New York, 1986, ix + 237 pp, £49.50 (hb), ISBN 0 404 63401 X     

The effects of control-display gain on performance of race car drivers in an isometric braking task

Abstract

To minimise lap times during car racing, it is important to build up brake forces rapidly and maintain precise control. We examined the effect of the amplification factor (gain) between brake pedal force and a visually represented output value on a driver's ability to track a target value. The test setup was a formula racing car cockpit fitted with an isometric brake pedal. Thirteen racing drivers performed tracking tasks with four control-display gains and two target functions: a step function (35 trials per gain) and a multisine function (15 trials per gain). The control-display gain had only minor effects on root mean-squared error between output value and target value, but it had large effects on build-up speed, overshoot, within-participants variability, and self-reported physical load. The results confirm the hypothesis that choosing an optimum gain involves balancing stability against physical effort.     

Individual Education Plans in the Republic of Ireland: an emerging system

The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act in Ireland advocated the development of individual education plans (IEPs). However, this section of the Act has never been fully implemented and there is no obligation upon schools to develop IEPs. Research conducted across the country by Richard Rose and Yu Zhao of the University of Northampton, Michael Shevlin of Trinity College Dublin, and Eileen Winter and Paul O'Raw of the Institute of Child Psychology and Education Europe, examined the extent to which IEPs have been developed and implemented in schools, and attitudes towards their use. Interviews were conducted with teachers, parents, pupils and other professionals to gain data related to IEP development and implementation. The findings of the research suggest that schools are taking the initiative in developing IEPs, though there is inconsistency in their use and in perceptions of their usefulness.     

In search of useful theory of innovation

This essay presents an overview of the prevailing theoretical literature on innovation, probes the adequacy of existing theory to guide policy regarding innovation, and sketches some directions for more fruitful theorizing. The focus is on the vast interindustry differences in rates of productivity growth, and other manifestations of differential rates of technological progress across industries. It is argued that the most important policy issues involve finding ways to make the currently lagging sectors more progressive, if in fact that can be done. Theory, to be useful, therefore must organize knowledge and guide research regarding what lies behind the uneven performance of the different economic sectors. In fact prevailing theory cannot do this, for two basic reasons. One is that theory is fragmented, and knowledge and research fall into a number of disjoint intellectual traditions. The second is that the strongest of the research traditions that bear on the differential innovation puzzle, research by economists organized around trying to ‘fit’ production functions and explain how production functions ‘shift’, neglects two central aspects of the problem; that innovation involves uncertainty in an essential way, and that the institutional structure supporting innovation varies greatly from sector to sector. The bulk of the paper is concerned with sketching a theoretical structure that appears to bridge a number of presently separate subfields of study of innovation, and which treats uncertainty and institutional diversity centrally.